Morrissey Alleges TSA Sexually Assaulted Him at San Francisco Airport

Morrissey claims a security agent at San Francisco International Airport “sexually groped” him before a flight this week.

In a blog post at the all-things-Morrissey website True to You, the musician says he was flying from San Francisco to London on July 27 and made it through regular security protocols, including a metal detector, with “no bleeps and nothing unusual.”

But then:

Before I could gather my belongings from the usual array of trays I was approached by an “airport security officer” who stopped me, crouched before me and groped my penis and testicles. He quickly moved away as an older “airport security officer” approached.

The officer who sexually assaulted me was identified as the General Manager On Duty. Luckily I was accompanied by two members of British Airways Special Services, who were horrified at the sexual attack and suggested that I lodge a complaint. I asked if there would be any point in lodging a complaint since, as with any complaint against a figure in “authority”, the complaints are simply collected in order to protect the guilty officer should the matter go further. The British Airways Special Services employees assured me that a complaint was worthwhile, and so I filed the appropriate information.

Morrissey claims that when he tried to confront the offending security officer, he was repeatedly told, “That’s just your opinion.”

“Apart from ‘that’s just your opinion,’ he would not comment, even though, since the penis and testicles were mine and no one else’s, then my opinion must surely have some meaning,” Morrissey protested.

In a statement, TSA spokesman Mike England denied the officer did anything wrong.

“TSA takes all allegations of misconduct seriously and strives to treat every passenger with dignity and respect,” England said. “Upon review of closed-circuit TV footage, TSA determined that the supervised officer followed standard operating procedures in the screening of this individual.”

Still, Morrissey ended his blog post with a warning: “However, what is clear is that, should you find yourself traveling through San Francisco International Airport, you should expect sexual abuse from the so-called ‘security officers’ who, we are unconvincingly warned, are acting only for our security.”